BRADFORD, Vt. — Alivia Patch’s favorite thing about the Bradford Teen Center, known as The Hub, is that she can be around people her own age in a fun and supportive place. “I get to hang out with my friends and cook,” Alivia, 13, said.

Aiden Covey, 15, appreciates that he has a place he can go after school that isn’t home.

“You can be more yourself and have friends you care about,” he said.

The Hub, started by educator Patrick Peters for youth in grades 7 to 12, opened in 2020. It took a bit of time to get going, but in the last three years, its numbers have grown. Around 20 kids make use of the space every weekday afternoon between 2:30 and 6 p.m., with as many as 30 on Fridays, said Emily Cummings, who has served as The Hub’s executive director since May 2022. In October, teens visited The Hub 416 times — a record high.

“There’s too many people in such a small space,” said Landon Austin, 16.

Luckily for Austin, he and the other teens won’t have to worry about tight quarters: In June, the organization will move to 174 Main St., when The Space on Main, a 7,000 square foot community center and coworking space in the former Hill’s 5 & 10 that opened in October 2018, will close.

In many ways, the transition seems meant to be: At the time The Hub was figuring out how to manage its growth, The Space on Main was struggling and trying to figure out a path forward.

“It was an operational capacity and funding capacity challenge,” said Monique Priestley, who founded The Space on Main. Over the years, The Space on Main served as vessel for community connection, youth programming and small businesses. There were artisan and farmers markets, job fairs and STEM-focused summer camps. There was the annual Friendsgiving Celebration, the “Meeples on Main” board game group and civic supper clubs where residents could learn about how to get involved in municipal affairs. The majority of the programs were free.

But it was getting harder to fund the roughly $100,000 per year in operating costs, which were funded primarily through grants and donations. The $100 to $150 around 40 people paid per month for the coworking space also contributed, but not enough.

“There are a definite core of people who are really going to miss what The Space on Main was for them but that core couldn’t support it,” said board member Marvin Harrison. “We’re up here in a spot where having corporate support for things like this, there just isn’t enough of it.”

At Town Meeting in March, a line between the two organizations started to be drawn. A resident asked about The Hub and if it had plans to expand to accommodate more teenagers in town. Priestley took notice.

“For me, I was thinking I’m sitting on a space that needs more people in it,” Priestley said.

She reached out to Peters and they started discussing the idea with their respective boards, as well as The Space on Main’s landlords Angela and Vin Wendell. Community feedback has been generally positive so far, Peters and Priestley said.

The Hub’s 2025 budget is $134,000 and is mainly funded through grants and donations. The Hub will pay around $2,500 a month in rent, only a few hundred more than they’re paying now for a space that’s less than half that size, Peters said. With the additional space, The Hub hopes to offer exercise equipment and more room for board games — another popular pasttime.

“We didn’t expect five years ago that we’d be in a position where we’d outgrow our space, we’d have community members asking us if we had a plan to expand and we’d have community members reach out to us about taking over this space,” said Peters, who is president of The Hub’s board of directors.

The Hub is still figuring out how it will use the space, including keeping it accessible to community groups and those who use it for coworking.

“We’re looking at being more of a community-focused organization,” Peters said. “We will always be a teen center. The teens will always be our priority but we want to expand to reach the greater community.”

The Hub is primarily a drop-in center. Pool, video games, art making and cooking are some of the more popular activities. Some come in to hang out and spend time with each other. “It’s amazing how many friendships we’ve seen formed that I’m not sure would have formed otherwise,” Cummings said.

In addition to providing an open space for activities, The Hub has also provided youth with other forms of support.

“Providing food is a huge part of what we do,” Cummings said. “We have teens who come from food insecure homes.”

It has also become a landing spot for teens who identify as LGBTQIA+ “who are looking for a place they can just be themselves and be accepted … because they don’t feel safe within their community,” Peters said. “Then there’s just kids because of home factors or whatever need a supportive place to be.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.